PROCESS FOR THICKENING A DRILLING MUD WASTE MATERIALS AND A MODIFIED DRILLING MUD WASTE MATERIAL

A process for thickening an oil-based and/or water-based drilling mud waste materials comprising: (1) mixing a drilling mud waste materials having greater than zero percent by weight free liquid with an effective amount of one or more anionic copolymers to form a treated drilling mud waste materials; (2) providing an effective amount of time period sufficient to thicken the treated drilling mud waste materials for eliminating the free liquid; and (3) optionally, transporting and disposing of the thickened treated drilling mud waste materials in a landfill. The anionic copolymer is either: (a) a crosslinked anionic copolymer derived from an anionic monomer, a nonionic monomer, and a cross-linking monomer; or (b) a non-cross-linked, linear chain copolymer of an anionic polymer arid a nonionic polymer; or (c) a blend of (a) and (b). A modified drilling mud waste materials having zero percent by weight free liquid, as generated from the aforementioned process, is disclosed.